And The Knockings Came Three In The Night
by patchworkangel
Summary: I thought, that I had seen all that I needed to see. And now Peter was gone. But Ma, sweet b****y Ma, just gave me a secret that she claims was meant to never be revealed. Until now, that is. I am Nathan Petrelli. And my brother is Gabriel. Gabriel Gray.


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Disclaimer: I don't own Heroes. I really don't. Stop giving me that look...

Author's Note: This is a very weird post for me, and yeah, ever since the new season started, I've really been itching to post this because of, well, the latest twist in the Petrelli saga. Okay, admittedly, the idea wasn't mine (it was based on a Youtube vid that I found - whose vidder I honestly can't remember, but used the song What I've Done by Linkin Park, and I SWEAR I will credit them as soon as I find that vid again - and was originally named What I've Done on my comp, but then changed to this other title because I didn't want to get in a hassle with the vidder. Still, basically, the idea is that Nathan discovers he's brothers with Mr. Big Badd himself, and although the story was meant to be a oneshot, I'm really considering expanding it like Dooms Day, and making some sort of chronicle like thing that reflects Nathan and Gabriel's new relationship. I'm really excited to see how this story will end up, because, as you'll be able to tell, I started it before the new season, in a way that would make it sorta non-AU while being AU, and continued it throughout the hiatus and strike. But now, with the new season taking off and a similar plotline emerging, I'll be updating the story according to my own ideas while taking as much of the series as possible. Okay. I'm stopping now. On with the story. Okay. I'm ready.

(Stands in the middle of Kirby Plaza and hopes/prepares for reviews.)

Onwards!!

* * *

**And The Knockings Came Three In The Night

* * *

**When Ma told me the news, I really couldn't say that I was the least bit surprised. I mean, yeah, I was stunned that I had a brother other than Peter. And that Peter wasn't really my brother. I was also stunned when she told me that that brother was my twin - granted, that's the kind of news even born twins would usually find surprising. But really, beyond the 'WHAT?! You're saying that I had a sibling out there that you gave away?!', I really wasn't surprised. Really.

Plus, if you knew my mother the way you would after growing up under her nose for 38 years, you'd pretty much hear her story, then make toast and be on your way to see the parade.

But even more unnerving, you could say, was how un-surprised I was when she told me exactly who my brother was. In fact, she showed me. She simply stuffed me onto a plane, a week after I got out of the hospital, and flew me to Mexico while I was heavily drunk-conscious; waking me up to tarnished, white-stained, stone walls that held no semblance to either my apartment, Peter's apartment, the Petrelli mansion, nor the hospital rooms. I remember seeing the first thing that day, and thinking that today was the day I went to hell.

The first thing I saw was Ma.

She had that usual look of restrained sorrow, laced with poisonous deceit and a tad of patronisation. After throwing up all over the threadbare mattress and bedspread, I was almost relieved to see the look was still there. That usually meant that this impromptu vacation was indeed business oriented - I don't think I would ever want a vacation with Ma any time soon. I'd probably use the opportunity to put one of us in a body bag.

"Nathan?" she spoke, a voice so clearly aged and wisened. Wisdom bestowed, no doubt, however fallen off the wayside that wisdom was. I told my body that I didn't have the strength to look up at her. Obediently, my body stayed put, while my mind was somewhat racing.

"Nathan, dear. There's something I need to show you."

"Well thank you, Ma. I'm feeling just fine. Don't worry, it's just a little puke."

The slap was, by no means, gentle for a sick man. "This is... NO TIME!... For acting like a spoilt brat!" she hissed. Still, the hitches and the restrained sob was hard to miss from her voice. I raised my head slightly.

She was staring at me with eyes struggling to conceal emotion. Something was bothering her, and against my better judgement, it was bothering me that I was half bothered by not knowing what, and half bothered for not caring what it was she was stressing over. But like clockwork, the words slipped out of me.

"What's wrong, Ma? What happened?"

She slapped me again.

"Sober up," she commanded, and threw me an old towel, "There's a bathroom over there and a car outside the main door. Clean up, then meet me inside."

I just stared at the towel, my mind trying to form a coherent question. But before I could ask 'Why?', her black tailcoat disappeared out the doorway. I was left sitting in bed, puke all over my T-shirt, and a headache pounding away between my temples.

This was wrong, I could tell. Something was going to happen. Something... significant.

I sighed. I was seriously hoping that my life was done with surprises. Six months ago, I was nicely sedated towards the world, my vision of good versus evil contained in a peep-hole that included Linderman and casinos. Of course, aside from flying and not being able to tell my wife just why I wasn't as crippled as her, I really wasn't interested in finding out about my brother flying and going after cheerleaders in the name of saving the world. Shit, Nathan. I need a shot of whiskey...

But, no. Slinging the towel over my shoulder and trying my best to move without falling over, I made my way to the bathroom.

Twenty minutes later, I was walking out into a dusty road, wearing a pair of pants uncharacteristic of me (jeans, you know?), and a dress shirt with a pair of cheap angel-wings emblazoned behind them, effectively ruining whatever merit the piece of cloth had. However, true enough, the out-of-place Range Rover was parked outside the modest house gate. It was black, and tinted; and after a few steps I could even feel the air-conditioning. This was definitely Ma's own packaging - there was no way she would settle for rentals with meters on the coolers.

Without waiting for an invitation, I opened the back door, and slipped in. The young woman sitting beside me simply smirked, but clearly avoided me like a plague with the few inches she created between us. I was in no mood to smile like a politician, so I left whatever sarcastic remark I had planned, within the mirror image of events in my mind. Let my inner ego call the girl anything under the sun - I just wasn't in the mood to do what my mind thought.

"All ready?" Ma asked from shotgun. Hmm, shotgun. There's a word I haven't used in a while...

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

And then the car kicked into motion, making its designated journey. The driver was quiet, only speaking to my mother, and in French no less. I understood French, as I did Italian and German, but I was more interested in sleep. So I did just that.

Beside me, I heard the muttering voice comment, "Great. Cutting me out of the loop again."

I suppressed the raised eyebrow my inner ego was flaunting with grace. The first thought that ran through my head was the same one I told myself the first time the FBI started tapping phone conversations. If I had not been running for Congress, I would've probably been able to meet the psychiatrist myself, but no. Phone calls were, as so, the least of all evils. Even if it involved me and my wife's sexual problems.

Still, when the insecurity of admitting that paralysis was bad for good, wholesome husbands, the very first thing that Congressman Nathan said was: Get used to it.

Ma was a bitch, kid. And so is anyone who knows her.

Get fuckin' used to it.

* * *

I woke up with a faint turn of the stomach.

Long road kinda journey. This was my body catching up to the motion sickness.

Ma's voice cracked through the churning. She was turned in her seat, eyeing me disapprovingly. So was the driver, who simply stared indifferently, and the girl, who was trying to sit upright, but was scratching an itch behind an ankle with her toes.

"We're here. Are you feeling up to a walk?"

I looked beyond her, and saw a fence separating the car from trees. A lot of trees. The gravel road continued beyond it, disappearing behind the curtain of green. I gave her a look of 'That?'

"That?"

"Yes, we have a place to go. On foot, unfortunately. She," Ma motioned to the girl near me,"...has to get this car back to the Company. And, in addition, I think you need to really sober up for this. A walk can do that."

"You sure you want to ruin your shoes?"

The girl snickered.

"Believe me, Nathan, dear. I've worn worst shoes on worst occasions. And I've survived foot sores bigger than your egos put together. I'll survive."

I found myself pulling myself up. "Fine. Whatever you say. Just get it over with."

Ma smiled, I could tell from her voice.

"Very well."

We both exited and the mixture of rough surface plus rough wind and rough sun, hit me head-on the moment I stepped off the car step. As I suspected, my mother was dressed in her best New York, Manhattan woman look. I waited for her to make a move.

"Make sure you confirm with our contacts, that we've already reached Point B. Then inform Bob, that Nathan is to be put under Company status after this."

The girl nodded and eyed the gate.

"What's back there?" she asked genuinely. I heard the scoff.

"Your father should know. Ask him; it would be a less intrusive route to finding out anything of what we do."

The only reaction to a statement like that was a look down, and a kick in the head. I've been there many times.

"Nathan, are you going to let her reverse the car into your face?" I heard out of the blue. I looked around, and caught the girl's eyes frowning at me from the driver's seat. Shrugging, I closed the door and moved out of the way.

Within moments, the car was turned around, and lost in a cloud of dust. I turned to Ma, and the man with his blank expressions. The gate opened up remotely, and we stepped in. A good distance later, the metal panels slowly swung shut, keeping us in. Behind Ma, I walked silently, feeling the unsettlingness begin to well up in my stomach.

Oh yeah, this was gong to be bad.

* * *

After almost half an hour of walking, I looked up at the whitewashed building that loomed up before us. It was old, very old. Almost like a nuclear facility from movies in the '50s. Odd, oblong windows popped out of random places, giving no hint of what lay inside, other than stating that there were at least three storeys within the dirty walls.

A woman, maybe ten years younger than Ma, came out of the single, blue door, and greeted us with a smile. She seemed ecstatic to meet Ma. Even more ecstatic to see me. She led us in and began explaining stuff.

I said stuff, because I was pre-occupied with the inside of the building.

It was clean, and disinfected. People were about their business, dressed in lab coats, dress suits, power suits and security apparel. There were rooms along the corridor, where people were sitting at tables, two to one, along the left; and wherever security guards stood, along the right, there were doors without windows. And yet, there was a consistent distance between each of those doors, indicating more than a janitor's closet. I saw one man exit one of those doors, and he had a handkerchief held up to his nose, a notepad in his hands bearing drops of blood.

Shortly after we passed the door, a group of men in Hazmat suits exited as well.

A few feet down the hall later, I could have imagined the creaking wheels on the floor as a wheelchair - but the first image in my head was that of a body transporter.

Suddenly, we stopped. The woman opened up an elevator, and asked us to enter. Inside, Ma turned to me and gave one of her 'soul-searching' looks. I knew this was the moment.

The doors closed. The sign S-2 was pushed, and the little light lit up.

Ma turned her back to the two people. I told myself the drop in my chest was the gravity of the elevator.

"Peter isn't your brother."

I felt a brief blackout in my head. All I managed was," What?"

Ma just looked at me. "Peter isn't your brother. He was adopted. I- We...- We adopted him as an infant. You were seven, and complaining about nightmares. You were looking for your brother."

Wait, stop. Rewind. Adopted?

I felt anger rise through me, a sudden sense of rage that I don't remember ever feeling prior to this.

"So, what does that have to do with Peter?!" The facts clicked and the world went red, and I knew I had lost it. "Is this supposed to make me feel better about his disappearance?! Is this what you're trying to do?!"

"He's dead, Nathan! It's your fault, he's dead! Accept that already!" she snapped. I buried my head in my hands and turned away, trying to process the news Ma just gave me. I was lost between applauding her succeeding in cracking me, and screaming a million things that would all emphasise 'Peter WAS my brother! I looked out for HIM, and YOU have no right to patronise THAT!'

"He's dead. We were supposed to bring him in as a pacifier to your nightmares, but The Company..."

"THE COMPANY!!" I think that was the loudest I had ever shouted.

"Yes. They decided it was best to keep him with us, since his mother had passed, and his father... His father was a bastard to begin with. We raised him, Nathan. That was it."

"He's my brother..."

"Not your blood brother!" she snapped, almost to convince herself. "We thought he wasn't... Like YOU. Like the others..." she sobbed gently.

I turned around, and saw Ma hiding her face in her hands. She looked ashamed.

"Not your blood... Not mine..." she whispered. I watched as emotions warred upon her face.

"Protocol... That's why. To cultivate the next generation, the surroundings had to be right. Trust... Trust in your parents and your elders. Trust in their ability to shield you. To build you. And your abilities..."

She looked up at me and touched my face, tracing every line and feature. A light, unlike any other, shone in her eyes. A mother's light.  
"You were to be raised alone. Alone. It would be easier to manage your... development." Ma gripped my shoulders, steadying herself as we came to a stop.

"But you kept searching. Started crying in the middle of the nights looking for him... You knew something was missing! So we brought Peter home... Just so your nightmares..."

"Nightmares could be tamed, Ma... You could have talked to me! Told me to stop crying!"

"This way, Mrs. Petrelli."

Ma abruptly changed her stance and followed the woman. Undaunted, I chased after her.

"Ma! If it was just nightmares, you should have actually taken time to deal with it, rather than buying a baby and making me live out my paranoia! I was looking for a brother, so you got me one to shut me up!? What the heck?! Ma!"

"It wasn't just a NIGHTMARE! It wasn't PARANOIA!"

I stopped dead in my tracks. As did everyone else. On the floor.

Ma glared at me through tears.

"You were looking for your brother... Your brother!"

"What are you saying?" I began cautiously.

A throat clearing brought me out of my zone. The woman had opened one of the no-window doors. She eyed us both, nodding towards the entrance and motioning the other staff to keep on their toes. Ma swallowed, and walked in. The woman followed, as did the man.

He turned to me and gave a brief glare, before holding the door open for me.

Deal with it. The words rang in my head.

I entered.

The narrow walkway was dark, lit only by a faint light at the end. I suppose it would be wimpish to say that the echoes of our steps were vaguely creepy, but what did I care? It rang off the walls with such precision and tone that I found myself constantly looking back at the man behind, just to make sure it was only us four in the enclosed area. After the millionth confirmation, I looked back up to see Ma standing beside the woman, facing something, facing the light, and talking.

I paused. Ma held up her hands to her mouth, the way she did when she thought Peter had died.

Gravity worked its way with my guts again, and I took one more step with caution and fear.

Fear? What could there possibly be left for me to fear?

Peter was dead. I let myself lose Heidi and my boys. I even killed whatever chance I had with Claire before it began. I've done enough evil to deserve what I have now, and I've lost everything I ever cared for, to fear anything that could possibly come my way. I was, quite literally, without anything left to lose. And so, with nothing to fear.

Ma looked up at me, nodding to let me know that she was standing where she wanted me to stand. Watching what she wanted me to see. I blinked.

Maybe it was my sanity, that I had left to fear losing.

I took another step. And another. And another.

And now I was standing before a glass window, looking into a white room no bigger than the one I had woken up in. It had smooth, plaster walls, and a clean tiled floor, lighted by high fluorescent lights that illuminated the room with that sickly, old glow. Ventilation systems were placed on both ends of the room, guarded by sturdy, metal cages that looked out of place in the monochromatic environment. But what stood out the most, a break in the pristine flow of nothingness, was the bed in the center of the room, its occupant facing the window.

He was a rugged fellow, with stubble and unkempt hair as well as pale, chapped lips to compliment pale, sunken eyes. He was wired up with all the works - ventilators, IV drops, BP monitors - everything, all the requirements needed, whenever the term Intensive Care was somehow related to the issue. Even from where I stood, I could see the gauze that rose from his chest, and the fading bruises over his face. He looked like he had survived one hell of a fight.

For whatever reason, I felt a strange pang in my chest. This man looked helpless, without any means of defense against these people in this facility. I knew squat of what The Company did in their free time, but I was positive they were not good. Who knows what kind of 'studies' those lab-coats conducted under sedation? Almost humorously, the Hazmat suits and the sounds of creaking wheels came back behind my eyelids and eardrums. Out of nowhere, the question popped in my head: How long does this man have left?

And out of nowhere as well - but an entirely different nowhere than the last - I wondered: Was that how helpless I was during the hospitalization? Just an unconscious heap, with wires hooked on every part of my body, and nothing but prayers and painkillers keeping me asleep, alive and anaesthetized?

I turned to Ma. Was that how she looked at me?

Then again, my situation involved radiation. Ma probably spent some time looking at me through a window like this. Was that why this man was held here?

"His name is Gabriel. Gabriel..." I turned to Ma as she murmured.

"What does...--"

"He was only two years old. Two... He just learned how to walk. But protocol stated... and protocol was kept. You... have no idea, Nathan..."

Gravity dragged me down. I felt it in my knees. In my arms.

"Gabriel..." the words sounded familiar. "Ma?"

She looked at me, dead in the eye, and spoke.

"He's your brother, Nathan. Your real brother."

It sounded... odd. In a way. And yet, the name Gabriel... That sounded familiar. It sounded almost... like a long lost piece of a puzzle, falling into that empty space in the corner of your mind. The kind of space that you got so used to ignoring because you had other places to look after. And for some reason, it didn't shock me. For whatever reason, despite running Ma's revelation to me, over and over again in my head, this... Gabriel. Gabriel... Petrelli? Somehow the name rolled off my tongue, naturally.

For the sake of it, I spoke Peter's name in my mind.

Peter. Petrelli. It sounded...

- Peter? -

The vague memory surfaced out of nowhere. A question. Me, a preppy kid, looking at my parents... Ma, holding a baby. She told me his name. It was Peter. He was my brother.

Peter - brother.

Gabriel.

No, not Gabriel. Peter.

It's okay, even if his name is Peter. He's my brother, and that's all that mattered, right?

No more nightmares...

"Gabriel. Brother. Ma... how...-?"

Immediately, before my very eyes, Ma broke down crying. Actually crying. She wailed softly, cradling her head in her hands and shaking - trembling. And as angry as I was, I guess the part of me who wasn't special, who wasn't a Congressman, who wasn't a drunk hanging onto oblivion - felt like I understood her pain.

A brother. All these years, with Peter by my side, Peter who was closer to me than anyone else. Never once did I question his existence. But, come to think about it, there were times when I treated Peter like an underling. Like someone I was designated to take care of. Sure, we could talk like brothers, hang out and play pool, drink beer and snag women on Friday nights, but I always felt like I was either flaunting, or holding him on a leash. Crude, yes, but I came to refer to it as 'overprotection'. Peter hated it. And whenever he got angry about it, the thoughts in my head would always translate to, 'Shut up, or I'll send you back to where you came from.'

I could never look at him as an actual person, I guess. I treated him, like... Property. A toy.

- Something to shut me up. -

"How could you? WHY did you? Was this another one of The Company's plans? Gab-- Him..! Peter?! What the FUCK is all this, MA?!" I didn't realise I was banging my hands on the glass, screaming my heart out.

"A BROTHER!? All this time, I had a brother out there that I NEVER KNEW OF?! My entire life, I was being lied to?!"

"It wasn't easy, Nathan. Protocol was to be followed...-"

"I don't give a FUCK about protocol!!" I spun around and forcefully hoisted Ma up by her arms, forcing her to face me. Her small frame was clearly no match for me, and for one of the many firsts that day, she actually looked scared. Terrified even.

A brief memory of my dad losing his temper, flashed through my mind.

"Is that it, Ma? Was everything that I WENT through, what PETER WENT THROUGH, a fucking lie?! I FELL DOWN BURNING!! I WAS POSITIVE FOR RADIATION FOR A MONTH!! AND PETER IS FUCKIN' MISSING!!" I shook Ma as hard as I could allow myself.

"What the HELL was WRONG with YOU AND DAD!!"

The fist came out of nowhere, and knocked me hard on my right cheek. I staggered and slumped against the glass. I touched the bruise and looked up at the expressionless man. He stood in front of Ma, quietly defending her and challenging me to return the blow. Ma had her hands cupped over her mouth, shocked at the sudden attack, color drained from her face.

I stood up and took a step.

"Nathan, please, I'll explain! Stop this anger of yours, now!"

I think I only half-glared her, because by now I realised that a sense of hope and expectation took root inside of me, at the offer Ma just made. Still, my lip curled with a backlash.

"Stop, Mr. Petrelli. Your mother has promised you peace of mind. Do not force me to do otherwise." The man stared at me, speaking in accented English as Ma's defense. I stared at him in return, and I swear the oddest image passed - whether in his eyes or in my mind, I don't know - before me.

Scenes of lives, of events, of... memories. All with a strange air of... forgotten-ness. Forgotten.

Suddenly tired, I slumped back, and slid down into a sitting position. I hung my head and ran my hands through my hair, trying desperately to find something worth understanding in the last three hours. Blanks after blanks popped up. It felt like my head was overflowing with questions, but none of them made sense. None of them sounded rational, none of them were relevant with what Ma had revealed. My chest tightened, my muscles locked in; I wanted to stay in that position and wait for the world to get back on its rocker. This excuse for a merry-go-round was killing me - inside and out.

"Nathan?"

The soft voice came with a soft touch on my shoulder. I could hear the rustle of fabric. The hand on my shoulder simply stayed, before pulling away.

I looked up. The woman was crouched down beside me, studying my face. She stared for a moment, before tilting her head and smiling at me, a smile as kind as a summer raindrop.

"Nathan, dear. Your mother wants to talk to you, alright?" Her voice was soft, and almost like a lullaby. Again, it was familiar. "You're a big boy now, you don't need to do all this sulking."

She said the last word with a smirk. Ma nodded in the corner of my eye. Without a word, a hand was offered to me, and the dark man nodded as well. I took the support and hauled myself up.

No sooner did I get to my feet, did Ma throw her arms around my neck and hug me so tight I felt my neck grow sore. She held me close, crying softly and whispering things I couldn't hear, but understood just the same. She pulled back and looked straight in the eyes, as if she was afraid of never seeing me again.

"Don't. Don't ever. Okay?"

I nodded.

With a sigh, she let go and gazed at Gabriel. Closing her eyes, she took a large, deep breath, and let it out. She opened her eyes.

"You were born so perfect, Nathan. A beautiful boy. Twelve hours in labour, half of it spent yelling at the nurses. You were one of the first born within the forefathers. One of the first of the new generation. Your father and I were proud of you, proud of our first born, who was also the first born of mankind's future. Victoria confirmed that your... 'genetic quality', was everything we expected and hoped for. The 'mutation' within the DNA of us forefathers were what made us unique, but we were unsure if that mutation was the effect of outer contaminations - war, pollution, the such - or if it was nature's own design. We decided to map its progress from its earliest stage, and monitor its development. Monitor, build, and shape. To control this... LEAP in humanity."

Ma turned to me, a mixture of guilt and pride upon her face. This - whatever 'this' was - was infinitely ingrained in her mind as something she was responsible for, and led to fruitition only under her guidance.

"Your father was a soldier. I was a housewife. When he heard about you, it was the perfect combination of environments that sought Linderman's interest. He informed us of the possibility of you becoming special. That you WERE special. And it was true. It was. Victoria may have been young, but she was a gifted doctor and both her research and her abilities confirmed your genetic 'differences'. You were only a year old, my son. A year old."

She touched my face, as if recalling the days when every line upon my image was nowhere to be found.

"Then Linderman warned us about the importance of raising you. You needed full attention, full direction in every aspect of your life. Your every habit was to be decided, your every like and dislike structured out methodically, and relevantly. Everyone, from your nannies to your playdates, had to be controlled. And that led to your brother...-" Ma choked up, as if the memory was too painful to remember.

"Gabriel was too young, too young! And your father and I... We just.. We- How could we..-? Gabriel..."

The dark man laid a hand on her shoulder, silently giving her strength, it seemed. Ma took in a few breaths, then continued.

"Gabriel wasn't like you. He didn't show any signs of being special. Victoria herself, and Linderman of course, claimed that he was... normal. He didn't have any 'potential' whatsoever. And simply because of that, we..."

"You got rid of him?"

Ma snapped a glare at me. Maybe that was too strong a comment. But I couldn't help it. In fact, the next words just seemed to flow out of my mouth, to Ma's disapproval.

"You got rid of my brother in order to control my 'environment'? That was what happened, wasn't it, Ma?"

"Linderman was clear. Your upbringing was important - the key to EVERYTHING! Gabriel would only get in the way..."

"My God! Do you even hear yourself? You're comparing HIM," I pointed at the unconscious figure,"to ME! As if this was some sort of international weapons arms-race to build the best arsenal out of crap! What? Is it whoever's born first gets the bone?"

Ma shook her head, turning away. "You weren't born first..."

I blinked. "What?"

Ma's stare pierced through me. Something - instinct - made a click in my head. Like a puzzle falling into place, pieces snugly fitting into one another, the bigger picture taking shape in languid fashion. Ma closed her eyes, and I swore I saw a tear role down those heavily made-up cheeks.

"You weren't born first. You were born at the same time."

I felt another weight fall down on me, squeezing my chest and prohibiting my attempts at breathing. I must have been paling right then, because all I could hear was static, and for a brief moment I felt like I was floating with a veil of white over my eyes. A gentle hand touched my shoulder, dragging me back down. I took a deep breath.

"Twins?"

Ma nodded. "Fraternal twins. Two minutes apart. You first, then Gabriel."

I remember falling back against the wall, this time the weight of the realisation just too much for a normal mind to take in. First, I had a brother. A totally different brother from sweet, boyish, Peter Petrelli. And that brother was not only hidden from me all these years, but apparently, it wasn't because the stork kept him out of the hospital, but because his own parents had separated him - us - from ourselves. All this time, this Gabriel was living in another world, another life, unaware that he was born of one of New York's most famous modern families.

And secondly, this man was apparently not only my brother, but my twin. My fuckin', fraternal twin. Created in the same womb, at the same time. Born, only two minutes apart... This was just too much...

Ma bent down and kissed my forehead, prompting me to look up at her, at her dark eyes that all us Petrelli's shared. Oh, how I loathed them now.

"How could you, Ma? HOW COULD YOU!!" I didn't even realise that I was once again advancing towards her, murder and pure rage blazing in my eyes. Ma's dark, almost depthless eyes widened before me, as she once more found herself inching backwards into the walls. I could feel arms trying to hold me back, but something inside me - some, RAGE inside me - was undaunted by it all, and without even thinking, I was swinging at the strange man trying to hold me back, landing blow after blow onto his form, the back of my mind replaying every word my Ma just said to since waking up in that strange, small house.

This was a nightmare. For sure. A fucking, unrelenting nightmare that had a white rabbit hiding in some far off corner, quivering around his little, fuckin' watch, and realising he was already late for the party, so might as well take his own head off instead. Hah! I couldn't help but find the humour in that image as I pulled away and banged bloody fists on the glass window. It was either that or my Ma was really the messed up, black widow bitch that I always tried to hope she wasn't.

The sound of beeping pulled me out of the dark. I looked up and saw Victoria lift up the clamshell and answer the caller. Ma was just behind me, tending to the strange man, but I guess the outburst I had just had was all the anger I needed. I had no interest anymore in beating up the man, or my mother. Chuckling, almost like a Mad Hatter, I turned away and leaned against the wall opposite the two people before me, and slid down to bury my head in my bleeding hands. I could hear Victoria whispering about something concerning machines and readings, but I really couldn't care.

Then she snapped the phone shut. "Mrs. Petrelli, he's awake."

My head snapped up, immediately shooting a glance at my mother. Ma herself looked surprised, but then her face was covered in an almost tender look of acceptance, and it almost made me feel guilty for yelling and shouting at her. Almost, that is. She nodded and turned to me.

"Let's go, Nathan. Your brother is waiting."

I was skeptical, and hell, I was scared about facing someone who's supposed to be my half of an egg, but most of all, I was determined to find out just what it was that made my Ma blow her cover on me after all these years. The ludicrous idea that this Gabriel guy was dying of some unexplainable disease and that there was a chance I could have it too, invaded my mind, but I kicked it away. Ma was thoughtful at times, but that didn't mean she was a freakin' house nurse.

Still, all the same, I found myself on my feet in a second, and soon I was once more following quietly as Victoria led us down the hall, before finally entering a door that led into the white room. And the first thing I noticed was the overwhelming smell of antiseptics, and the deafening sound of life support machines.

Gabriel was at this proximity, obviously a Petrelli. He was probably closer to my height, with the same skin tone and same dark hair and strong features that made us Petrellis stand out at church or social events. I wondered if anyone ever noticed the similarity he had with us whenever he was out and about, or if he saw one of my ads and thought for some reason, that guy's family looked like they could be his own. It was bizarre. And I've seen bizarre and unexplainable before. This, was bizarre.

Ma went to stand on the other side of the bed, and gently caressed Gabriel's face. He stirred for a moment, then slowly opened his eyes, looking up at Ma. He froze and locked up almost immediately, digging his nails into the sheets and looking like he was desperate to get away from Ma's hands. Ma simply placed them around his face, and looked deeply into his eyes, softly whispering calming words to lull him into submission. Ma, ever the lion tamer.

"It's alright, Gabriel. You're safe now." Ma looked up at me. "You're home."

Gabriel's eyes turned towards me, sizing me up, then looked back at the dark man and Victoria. He weakly twitched his right hand, as if to say something, but found he couldn't move, so he gave up and dropped it. He looked back at me, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Gabriel. Hi--Hello. I'm-- I mean..- My name is Nathan. Petrelli." I looked at Ma's encoraging, but guarded expression. "Nathan Petrelli"

Gabriel's lips moved, but no words came out. I took a deep breath, lifting a bloody hand to point at myself.

"I'm Nathan Petrelli. I'm your brother."

I was positive that Gabriel was a Petrelli now, because the look in his eyes at the realisation, the shock - and the almost expecting calm - was exactly the look on my face when Ma told me the news not one hour ago. I looked down and shook my head.

"Wh--" slipped passed his lips, prompting me to look up at him again. "Wh..- What did... you do.. to.. me...?"

I frowned and looked to Ma for an answer. Ma simply grasped one of his hands and bent down to whisper into his ear.

"We saved you."

* * *

Author's Note: I found the vid!! It's by Manacle180, and called **Sylar** and **Nathan**- **Brother** Villians: What I've Done (I think I grabbed a link when I copy-pasted the title). Love it! Credits to you, hun!

And, thank you. On to work for Part 02.

I think so...


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